1910: New Jersey Aviator Built Flying Disc

From: Stig Agermose <stig.agermose.nul>
Date: Thu, 21 Nov 2002 09:17:00 +0100
Archived: Thu, 21 Nov 2002 07:48:30 -0500
Subject: 1910: New Jersey Aviator Built Flying Disc
Source: The Bergen Record - New Jersey
http://www.bergen.com/page.php?level_3_id=3D59&page=3D5625229
Stig
***
Totowa aviator built flying disc
Monday, November 18, 2002
By MAURO MAGARELLI, Herald News
**
In December 1910, a circular airship dazzled Totowa residents
with an unprecedented aerial display near Laurel Grove Cemetery.
No, it wasn't a flying saucer; this UFO only rose 4 inches off
the ground.
The flying machine was known as "the Hoople," one of New
Jersey's first attempts at aviation.
Totowa resident William P. Gary built the original Hoople, also
known as the Garyplane, in 1908. The strange craft was a giant
circle 20 feet in diameter, powered by a 50 horsepower engine in
the center, and a tail wing that ran across the diameter of the
hoop. The wings were non-collapsible and covered with Niad, a
special type of linen imported from Ireland.
A pressman for the Paterson Guardian by trade, Gary was also a
successful builder outside his aerial pursuits, and pioneered
Totowa's first home mortgage system. He built several homes on
Lincoln Avenue and Jefferson Place and then sold them under
monthly payment plans.
On June 18, 1910, Gary's first aircraft fell victim to the
elements. A severe rainstorm slammed into the Paterson area that
afternoon, destroying hundreds of trees, shutting down several
trolley lines and wrecking the unsecured Hoople. Gary rebuilt
his airplane, but this time, he housed it in a peak-roofed shed
near his home at 75 Lincoln Ave.
The maiden flight near Laurel Grove Cemetery proved that the
Hoople could fly, even if it was barely a foot off the ground,
so Gary continued and tested the plane twice more the following
year. The first run was in February, with the Hoople reaching a
speed of 35 mph on the ground but without achieving any
substantial height. Two months later, the plane flew nearly 6
feet into the air before crash landing.
"The aviator was driving his flying machine and was proud of his
achievement. Suddenly something went wrong with the motor. With
a downward dash, the machine went head first into the mud of
Union Avenue, throwing Gary several feet away," reported the
Paterson Evening News, in its April 7, 1911, edition.
Although the Hoople was severely damaged in the dive, Gary was
uninjured during the April test-run, which was supposed to be a
private demonstration, but nevertheless attracted a large crowd
of curious onlookers.
Afterward, Gary rebuilt his plane yet again, and on Feb. 8,
1912, he attempted to defy gravity once more. Showcasing a more-
powerful engine, Gary wheeled the Hoople to the starting point
near Westside Park, where a crowd was anticipating the
demonstration. This time around, the plane achieved enough speed
to glide 20 feet into the air and over several houses.
Then another mode of transport cut the flight short.
"At a point near the High Bridge, Gary made an effort to soar
the machine even higher, but a Lackawanna Train which happened
along at the time interfered with continuing the flight any
further," reported the Paterson Evening News in its Feb. 9,
1912, edition.
Nevertheless, the February test was the most successful flight
involving Totowa's Hoople, now a forgotten bit of aviation
history.
"It's not famous at all; people come here at the museum and see
a picture on the wall and say, 'How did that ever fly?'" said
Pat Reilly, the founder-director of the Aviation Hall of Fame
and Museum of New Jersey in Teterboro. Gary never tried to
develop or commercialize his invention.
"Well, it never went further, he flew it and that was the end of
it. He never capitalized on it," said Reilly.
Gary did continue flying. He twice crashed a biplane into Union
Avenue and then attempted to design an air-carrier for the U.S.
Postal Service. He acquired a patent for a new Garyplane, a
monoplane that was successfully tested in the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology's wind tunnel and proved efficient.
Gary would never get to fly his new creation. Inclement weather
arrived the day of the Garyplane's maiden voyage, so Gary went
aloft in an old JN-4 Jenny, an aircraft used during World War I.
The Jenny was caught in a downdraft, stalled out and crashed.
Gary was badly injured, with internal bleeding. The Garyplane
was stripped by souvenir hunters while its creator was bedridden
during his recovery.
Gary went on to work as an airplane inspector and eventually
died in Paterson in 1951, at the age of 84.
**
Reach Mauro Magarelli at (973) 569-7100 or
magarelli.nul
Copyright=A9 2002 North Jersey Media Group Inc.